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IMRAD Research Essay
Purpose
The IMRAD Essay (and its permutations) is arguably the most common genre used in academic contexts as well as many professional contexts in the sciences and social sciences. Therefore, learning the processes for composing a well-researched IRMAD essay will prepare you for many writing situations during and beyond college. Since you are taking a writing course, this essay will be about a writing-related issue (see Project Proposal for example topics)
Instructions-Research
You will complete the research needed for this essay by fulfilling the requirements for...
Instructions-Writing
Write a 2500 word essay using the format of...
- Introduction–Includes what the problem is (e.g., the debate about mandatory testing) and the research question (what you want to learn with your research)
- Literature Review–Can be a part of the Introduction or its own section. Covers what has already been said about the topic
- Methods–What did you do for your primary research? Detail this in a way that your audience could pick it up and do the same research. Also explain your decisions in light of how the decisions you made are helping you to answer your research question
- Results–This is just the raw data, no interpretation
- Discussion–This is the interpretation of the data. It is where you use a combination of the data and the literature (from the literature review) to answer the research question
Remember that you will need to answer your research questions and develop an argument based upon the synthesis of your results. As you compose this essay, it is recommended that you draw from and appropriately revise text from previous submissions.
Criteria
Logistic:
- 2500 words
- double-spaced
- Complete rough draft brought to class for peer review on November 13, 2013
- On November 18, 2013 submit the final draft to the instructor as a hard copy within a manila folder with any other relevant documents. This portfolio should include...
- IMRAD (final & rough draft)
- Evaluted blog entries for...
- Prep Blog #4
- Research Blog #1-5
- Come On, Persaude Me (10.21 Google Doc)
- Taking the Next Step (10.23 email)
- Visualizing Your Own Topic (10.28 email)
- Writing with Style (10.30 email)
- 150 points
In addition to the general evaluation criteria, the instructor will be looking for evidence of...
- an understanding of the problem or issue you have chosen
- an understanding of your audience, scholars and instructors in the field of Writing Studies
- whether you write this using academic conventions, especially those for an IMRAD essay.
- a research process that starts with identifying a problem, moves to developing research questions that address the problem, then to designing and detailing a research plan that appropriately answers the questions, onto the relevant results to your study, and then drawing reasonable conclusions and an informed argument that answer your research questions.
- an academic or professional persona; this means you should adopt a professional tone and publish a well-edited paper
- appropriate use of conventions, including MLA, APA, or an appropriate citation formatting